Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a method of deciding a correction amount in the information processing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
When identifying the distance between information processing apparatuses (e.g., an image forming apparatus and a mobile terminal) and providing various services (functions) according to the distance, it is very important to accurately identify the distance between the apparatuses. For example, when the distance between two apparatuses decreases, that is to say when a user in possession of a mobile terminal approaches an image forming apparatus, it is possible to save the user the trouble of performing a login operation by detecting that the distance decreased and then automatically performing processing for logging in to the image forming apparatus from the mobile terminal. When the distance between the apparatuses increases, that is to say when the user in possession of the mobile terminal moves away from the image forming apparatus, the mobile terminal is automatically logged out of the image forming apparatus. This makes it possible to prevent a situation in which another user cannot operate the image forming apparatus because the logged-in user remains logged in to the image forming apparatus even though the logged-in user has moved away from the image forming apparatus.
In this case, if the mobile terminal has a wireless communication function, the distance between the image forming apparatus and the mobile terminal can be identified by measuring the intensity of wireless communication radio waves. For example, consider the case where the mobile terminal supports Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE), the image forming apparatus emits BLE radio waves, and the mobile terminal receives those radio waves. The wireless radio field intensity is stronger the smaller the distance is, and is weaker the greater the distance is, and therefore the distance can be identified to a certain extent by measuring the radio field intensity. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-70585 discloses technology in which a mobile terminal receives radio waves output by a wireless radio wave emission source, and the distance to the emission source is calculated based on the intensity of the received radio waves.
However, there is a problem in that the intensity of the radio waves received by the mobile terminal varies depending on the mobile terminal that is being used, and therefore the distance cannot be identified accurately. For example, in the case of measuring the distance with use of near field wireless communication such as BLE, the radio field intensity varies a large amount depending on the position of the BLE chip in the image forming apparatus and the position of the mobile terminal, and therefore there is a risk of not being able to accurately identify the distance. In one specific example, even if the intensity of radio waves received by the mobile terminal is −50 dBm, the distance to the image forming apparatus is 50 cm in some cases and 1 m in other cases. Also, even with the same model of mobile terminal, the intensity of received radio waves varies depending on the presence or absence of an accessory (e.g., a cover attached to the mobile terminal).